


About Town

by endemictoearth



Category: My Mad Fat Diary
Genre: F/M, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Record shop, someone noticing you're not around, town records
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 13:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14875005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endemictoearth/pseuds/endemictoearth
Summary: This prompt from @i-dream-of-emus piqued my interest, and got me to sit down and write something!PROMPT: Rae is well-known by the staff of Town Records, and when they don’t see their most loyal customer for a couple of weeks they get worried. Some how, they find out that she’s in the psychiatric ward, and want to do something nice for her during her time there.So, each week, a member of staff visits her at the hospital with the latest NME and Melody Maker, and the week’s new releases. Rae borrows the CDs for a week, then buys what she can afford of the ones she likes most.And guess who is Town’s grumpiest / best-looking part-timer?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I didn’t keep exactly to the brief, but it seemed to scratch the itch of “What if?” for me. (Well, half-scratch … still got a bit of an itch.) TBC

It often takes awhile to notice when something’s missing. Like one of those “Can you spot the differences between these pictures?” puzzles they put in to pad out the Sunday papers. At a casual glance, it all seems the same, but when you have a think and start to really look, you see what’s gone from the scene, what’s been changed.

Finn chewed his thumb nail as he restocked the magazine rack with the shipment of latest issues.

“Dave?” He shouted to be heard in the back room.

A muffled “Yeah?” floated out of the half-open door.

“Where d’ya want me to put the Melody Maker Souvenir Issue? They sent us extras!”

Dave stuck his head out from the stock area. “They probably printed too many, the wankers.” He nodded to the counter. “Stick some by the till. Maybe we can shift ‘em as an impulse purchase.”

Finn nodded, chewing on the inside of his lip, now that both hands were occupied.

After stacking a bunch neatly on the counter, he plucked a copy from the top of the pile. Dave always let him have a couple of mags a week at no charge. For no reason he could name, Finn glanced guiltily at the open door to the back and slipped a second copy into his knapsack, then sat down at the stool behind the till, humming along to Elastica playing on the in-store speakers.

> _Waking up and getting up has never been easy,_
> 
> _Oh, oh, I think you should know._
> 
> _Oh, oh, I think you should go._
> 
> _Make a cup of tea, and put a record on._

Saturday mornings were always slow, but Finn liked putting things right round the shop. He’d straightened out most of the sections, filled all the magazine racks, even tidied the notice board. He wasn’t the most personable employee at Town, and he knew Rob generally liked a late night of a Friday, so he didn’t mind volunteering to come in at half-eight on a Saturday, even if he ended up bored for the last hour or two of his shift.

It also meant he could visit his nan after. Normally, he’d stop over at her cottage, which was much closer to Town than his own house, but she’d had to go into hospital for some routine tests earlier in the week, and they’d kept her over, saying they wanted to monitor some levels or something. It didn’t sound good, but they kept telling her not to worry, which she in turn told Finn, but his nails looked even more of a state than usual.

He was gnawing on another cuticle when Rob rocked up through the front door, looking rough but resigned to a full day of work.

He nodded at Finn, who nodded back, and then shoved the door to the back wide open as he went to deposit his stuff in his locker.

Finn didn’t have a locker, as he only worked about ten hours a week. His eyes flitted to the clock, and he was surprised to note that Rob had come in early. It wasn’t yet noon, and Finn was supposed to leave at one. Usually, they were ships passing.

Finn looked down at the cover of the Melody Maker special, the Brothers Gallagher staring deadpan back at him. The song changed over on the stereo system, and he could hear the clock tick a few seconds in the silence before Morning Glory (ironically) started up.

There were no customers in the shop, hadn’t been for most of the morning, but suddenly and unaccountably, it made Finn feel nervous, restless. He’d felt it was quiet for the past few weeks, really. It was like he was living the same Saturday over and over each week, waiting for … something.

Rob came out and plopped down next to Finn behind the counter, sighing.

“Y’alright?” Finn asked.

“Good as can be expected.”

Finn nodded.

“You?” Rob asked back.

Finn shrugged.

“Eh?”

Finn sighed now. Rob was a decent sort, and there wasn’t anyone else about. “Me nan’s ill. Well, maybe not, but she’s in the hospital for a bit, I guess to make sure she’s not? Anyway.”

“Hey, that’s shite. Sorry to hear it. Hope she’s okay, yeah?”

“Thanks.” Finn shifted on his stool, still restless. “This place has been dead. Deader’n usual, even.”

“I know. Haven’t even seen that girl, you know the one, is it Mae?, come in recently. Have you seen her?” Rob asked offhand.

Finn froze. “Rae,” he whispered. That was it.

He’d kept having these weird half-thoughts, just glimpses flitting across his mind, of a figure with long dark hair, moving around the shop. But they’d been so fleeting, so transitory, he hadn’t been able to put his finger on it.

She rarely spoke to anyone, just sort of appeared, usually around noon of a Saturday, this sort of time. Sometimes he’d see her in the late afternoon during one of his mid-week post-college shifts, but she’d been a fixture on Saturdays until recently.

He furrowed his brow. “Yeah … I mean, no. It’s been a few weeks, at least. Wonder what’s happened to her.” As soon as he said it, he realized he hoped nothing had happened to her. That she just decided to spend her Saturdays somewhere else, or was out of town, even moved. Though, he didn’t  _really_  hope that last one.

*

She didn’t buy much, but when she did, it was something good. Something he could tell she’d thought long and hard about, having saved and researched and listened to as many tracks as she could before committing to it.

He distinctly remembered her being near the front of the queue for the new Oasis on release day back in October, though. He’d asked his dad if he could bunk off and work, so he could get his hands on his copy first thing in the morning, before the shop opened to the public.

“Remember when that last Status Quo album come out?” he asked, eyes pleading his case. “You moved your morning meeting so’s you could get it first thing.”

His dad had rolled his eyes but relented, as long as Finn promised to take the bins out for a month without his usual whinging.

And when he turned up at the shop, there was actually a line down to the chemist’s a few doors away. He’d felt special, being able to walk past the crowd and wave to Dave inside, who came over to let him in early. “Not your usual release day, eh?”

Dave grunted. “I noticed you pre-ordered one, too. You can have your pick of the discs, as long as you’re quick about it. I’ll have to let this lot in soon, or risk the wrath of Mr. Singh next door. They’re blocking his entrance.”

Finn ducked his head behind the counter and saw nearly a hundred CDs in neat stacks. Logically, he knew they were all the same, but he wanted the best one. He randomly picked the third one from the top of the second pile, inspecting the case for damage, the wrapper for tampering. It looked good–pristine, even. He slipped it in one of the paper bags by the till and put it in his own bag, in a pocket all by itself.

Even now, months later, he could remember that feeling of satisfaction after so much anticipation. Before he’d even listened to anything but the two songs released for the radio, simply possessing it—the mere possibility of how much he might like it–had been tantalizing.

He wasn’t precisely sure why his brain was hashing over that day on this day, until the memory expanded to seeing her, Rae, come in with her eyes shining and cheeks flushed from waiting in the morning chill for more than an hour. He remembered noticing her uniform, which he’d never seen her in before. She looked like she felt uncomfortable in it, but possibly a little less uncomfortable than normal, since she was getting to pick up this album.

Dave was running the till; Finn was bagging the CDs. It only took them about half an hour to get through the line, but the moment when Rae was at the counter seemed … well, memorable. After all, here he was, remembering it.

“Yours was the third name on my list for this, love,” Dave chided Rae as he took her bills and made change.

“Yeah?” she asked, “Who was ahead of me, then?” She was in a good mood, all smiles. Finn couldn’t remember ever seeing her smile that big.

“Just this one,” he hoiked a thumb in Finn’s direction, “And Rob, of course.”

Rae turned to look at Finn, probably reflexively, and their eyes met. “Felt like today’d never come, eh? Been waiting for this for months.”

That might have been the first time she’d spoken to Finn without him speaking first. And the only time he’d initiated conversation was likely to be part of a transaction.

Finn nodded. “I know! It seems like I’ve been waiting forever, but their first album only came out last August.”

Her lips closed over her teeth, but she was still smiling. Then she said, “Hard to believe—feels like I’ve had those songs in me head for years.”

It was his turn to smile. How was it he could remember this moment so clearly?

That was when the moment ended, however. The man behind Rae cleared his throat in irritation. “Could you two hurry it up?”

The smile fell from Rae’s mouth; Finn handed her the bag with her new music and, as she turned, he said, “Hey, lemme know what you think of it, yeah?”

The corners of her mouth lifted a fraction and he would have sworn she nodded as she turned to leave.

*

He’d known something was missing; how could he have not realized?

He supposed she had always just been there, in the background of the shop, quietly … existing. He was intrigued by her, sure, but she seemed pretty private, and he wasn’t one to press anyone. He was more of a hang back and let them come to him sort of bloke. She seemed cool, and he liked to idly speculate about her, but that had been good enough.

Rob sighed. “It is bloody dead in here, isn’t it?”

Finn nodded, feeling a little disoriented. It was, but he was wrapped up in wondering.

“You can leave early, if you want. I’m here now, and there’s no reason for the both of us to be bored senseless.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, escape while you can. Go see your nan.”

“Thanks, Rob. Have a good one—hope business picks up.”

Rob smiled. “Usually does.”

Finn shrugged on his jacket and slung his bag across his chest, then waved to Rob as he headed out.

His walk to the hospital was fairly short, and he was so distracted by thoughts that it seemed like he arrived in less than a minute. 

He started to walk down the hall to the nurses’ station to check in, when he saw a flash of long dark hair down the corridor off to his right. His head turned instinctively, and there she was, like he’d conjured her with his jumbled thoughts. She was standing next to a younger girl, head bent down to listen to the girl whisper in her ear.

When the girl was done, Rae straightened up, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she did. The hallway was dim, but for the spot they were standing in, an open door let the light from the courtyard windows in, and the light played across the sweep of her hair.

He was staring at her, mouth open, when she spotted him. He watched as she went from noticing him as a presence, then as a person, to the second she recognized him. Her shoulders hunched up, and she looked down immediately, as if not looking at him could make him not see her.

She didn’t last long before glancing up to make sure. He held up a hand in greeting, and she nodded. Her little friend looked up at her, her expression bordering on incredulous, before shoving Rae in the small of her back to propel her towards him.

Rae shot the girl a dirty look before dragging her feet down the hall.

As she approached, he began to smile. He was glad to see her, see she was … well, she might not be okay, as she was in hospital, and he could see her tag despite her long sleeves. But she was here.

“Hiya!” he said, brightly, his usually mumble gone for once. “Funny running into you, we were just wondering about you at the shop.”

Her eyes flew to meet his. “What? Why?”

“Well, we just … hadn’t seen you in a while. Sort of got used to you coming in every week. Saturday mornings are pretty boring without you.”

The expression on her face was impressive, but still hard to read. “Really?”

“Well … yeah. Sometimes you were the only customer I’d see before noon.”

She scoffed under her breath, and half smiled to herself. Then, suddenly, asked, “What’re you doing here?”

“Oh, visiting me nan. She’s … they’re observing her. For, like, levels, or summat.”

Rae nodded, like she understood. “Sorry to hear it. I won’t keep you. Nice to … I mean, thanks, or … whatever.”

She turned to walk away, and Finn found himself protesting. Out loud. “You’re not keeping me. I’m early this week. It were so dead, Rob said I could leave before one. I—“  

Rae pivoted cautiously to look at him while he floundered.

It was then he remembered the extra copy of Melody Maker. “Oh, hey! Do you, I mean, is it alright if I …” He fumbled with the clasps on the front of his bag. “I just happen to have an extra of this week’s …” He held it out to her, hopeful. “If you want it, that is. It’s a special edition, that’s why I grabbed an extra.”

Her eyes widened, then narrowed in suspicion for a split second. “You sure? It’s not for someone else?”

“No!” Why had he practically shouted that? “No, sorry. I just … grabbed two instead of one. I can always get another; they sent us loads.”

She turned to fully face him, but snuck a glance over her shoulder at her little friend, who was grinning down the hall at them.

“Well, thanks, then. I’ve been starved for news of these two for weeks now.” She gestured to the brothers on the cover.

Finn grinned. “They’re still the same old arseholes, far as I know.”

“Arseholes who can make some bloody great music.” Rae smiled back, holding the magazine close to her chest, like it was something precious.

“It’s good to see you, Rae,” Finn said. “Hope we’ll see you at the shop soon.”

Her eyes softened at that, and she nodded faintly. “Yeah, hopefully.”

He wanted to ask her why she was there, what was going on, but he had no right, and from the little he knew her, he knew she wouldn’t want him to pry.

He waved again; this time in farewell.

When he got to his nan’s room, he still had a smile lingering on his lips.

“You’re happy about something,” his nan teased, before he even saw her.

He dipped his head, shaking it in denial, but said, “Well, yeah, happy to see you!”

She gave him a knowing look, but didn’t question him, just held her thin arms out for a hug.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope part 2 lives up to expectations … there will be at least one more part, but this isn’t a traditional Frae fic.

On Tuesday after school, Finn was back at the shop. Both Rob and Dave were there, sorting through the delivery of new stock.

Finn dropped his bag behind the counter, and they grunted a unison greeting without looking up. Finn smirked, immediately getting stuck in to the stock, as well.

He wanted to say something about Saturday, about how he had seen Rae, how he knew … something. He knew where she was, but not why she was there. He knew what she looked like with the sun at her back, but not how she felt about … well, anything. He’d got a couple pieces of a 1000 piece jigsaw, and he just wanted to keep gathering more, fit them together into a complete picture.

But when he went to say something, it was like there wasn’t enough air in the room, or maybe just in his lungs. He tried to take a deep breath, but only managed a deflated sigh.

“What’s up wi’ you?” Dave asked, his tone tinged with the typical ‘just us lads’ harshness. The default reply to any question about how one was should be some form of shrug, grunt or “Alright, I s’pose.” No highs or lows were allowed … this was a mellow space for cool people.

Rob elbowed Dave in the arm. “Shut up, mate—his nan’s ill,” he said in undertones. Finn had to strain to make it out, and when he did, he flushed.

“How’s your nan, Finn? She still on the ward? They looking after her alright?”

Rob was good people, Finn thought.

He nodded. “She’s not doing too bad; at least, she hasn’t gotten any worse.”

“Glad to hear it,” Rob nodded.

Dave frowned and kicked an empty box toward the backroom door. “Sorry to hear about your nan, Finn. But it’s good they’re lookin’ after her properly.”

Finn nodded again. He leant down to pick up another box, and when he straightened back up to place it on the counter, he said, “Funny thing, though …” and had the immediate interest of the other two.

“Yeah?” asked Rob, sorting through a load of used cds. Though he wasn’t looking at him, Finn could tell he had his attention.

Finn stammered, “I-it’s weird, ‘cause we were just talking about her, but when I were at the hospital, I run into—erm—Rae, y’know, Saturday Rae? The … girl who hasn’t been by in a while.”

He cleared his throat into the silent shop.

Rob looked up, and tried to read Finn’s face. “Oh, yeah? Was she … ?” he didn’t seem to know what to ask, but Finn could guess his question.  _Was she a patient or was she visiting someone?_

“She had a bracelet on. I think … I think she’s been there this whole time.” Finn exhaled a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

Dave coughed pointedly. He’d never been good with words, Dave. Even worse than Finn for talking. It was one of the things that bonded the two of them. They could both abide long silences without feeling the need to fill the air with blather. Rob probably talked the most, but even he wasn’t on a constant yammer.

But now, this seemed to need to be said, only what was he saying? He didn’t know her diagnosis. Maybe she had something physically wrong with her, but she didn’t look sick or extra pale or like she’d lost weight or broken a bone … she looked just the same. The same way she did standing on the other side of the shop. He stared over at the display rack, imagining she was there, squinting at a track list.

Rob asked a complete question this time. “Did you talk to her?”

“Real quick, but yeah. I gave her one of the extra Melody Makers. I mean, I had one with me. Seemed to cheer her up. Well, a bit.”

Looking over at his boss and his co-worker, Finn saw them both nodding like those dashboard dachshunds his dad had in the car. Like they couldn’t think what else to do, let alone say.

Because they’d all seen it, without really realizing it. She came in, quiet and unassuming, rarely smiled, always alone. There was a certain air about her.

There was that time those lads from outside the corner shop had followed her in and said a few disgusting things before Dave ran them out, shouting, “Next time, you’re banned for permanent!” as they scurried up the street. Finn wasn’t in that time; he wasn’t sure what he would have done if he’d witnessed that first hand.

There was the fact that she hardly ever bought anything, just looked and looked, carefully reading track listings and skimming music magazines, doing her best to absorb what she could just by being in the shop. Nodding along to the music, sometimes jotting notes in her beat up orange notebook (Finn always assumed it was lyrics she wanted to remember.)

Those things they’d observed and promptly forgotten, never adding them up or drawing conclusions, because you couldn’t. Not really.

But when they heard, “She’s in the hospital.” and “She might’ve been there this whole time.” A chord is struck somewhere, familiar yet haunting.

Dave moved over to the periodical section, as swift as his bad knee would let him, and decisively grabbed one of each of the magazines on the rack. He thrust the pile at Finn.

“Here.”

Finn raised an eyebrow.

“Next time you go. Give her these. Just say they were extras, leftover, whatever.”

When Finn took the stack in his hands, Dave spun around, picked up another box with a quick sniff, and flipped open his pocket knife to cut along the taped seam.

Finn tightened his grip for a moment, then remembered himself, and smoothed the covers before slipping them into his bag.

“Thanks, Dave. I’m sure she’ll appreciate them.”

Rob piped up with a question. “Do you know if she has a way of playing music? I could make her some copies of stuff.”

Finn bit his lip, wishing he’d thought of that first. “No, sorry, we only spoke for a minute. But if I go back … I mean, I’ll ask. I’ll find out.”

“Yeah, let me know.”

The three of them unpacked in silence for a few moments.

Then Dave said, suddenly, “Finn, d’y’wanna to leave early? It’s pretty dead, and we’ve got this. I won’t dock your pay. But … you know … if you wanted to …”

Finn picked up his bag and jacket and said, “I might not make visiting hours, but I’ll try.”

“Cheers,” Dave and Rob said, replying in unison.

* * * * *

Finn had taken his scooter to work, so he made it to the hospital in record time. He’d remembered her last name, from her bracelet and the post-it on the Oasis CD months ago. Earl.

“Rae Earl?” He asked for her at second floor reception, near where he’d seen her before, trying to seem nonchalant, but his fingers drumming too fast on the strap of his bag gave him away.

“She expecting you?” the nurse behind the desk asked, deadpan.

“Um, probably not, but I saw her the other day, wanted to check up—I mean, check IN. I just … wondered how she was.” He swiveled his neck in an attempt to feel less uncomfortable, but it didn’t work.

“Yes, well, I’ll let her know you’re here. Have a seat.”

Finn inclined his head. When the nurse had disappeared behind a pair of swinging doors, he collapsed onto one of the turquoise plastic chairs that were bolted to the wall. He slipped his bag over his head, wrapping the strap around his palm a few times, squeezing the canvas and leather.

He wanted to bite his thumbnail so bad it almost hurt, instead he slipped his free hand under his thigh, pressing down against the smooth surface of the seat.

Just then, the door swung open and the nurse bustled back out and settled into the seat behind the desk without so much as a glance Finn’s way.

He was about to clear his throat and ask what Rae had said, when on the second swing of the doors, she was there, hovering with an uncertain look on her face while the door wobbled into place behind her.

As he stood, his bag hit the side of his knee. He didn’t wince, just walked over to her. When he was right in front of her, he said, “Hiya.” He winced now, his voice nearly squeaking on the second syllable.

Rae had yanked her sleeves down over her wrists, fingers pulling at each hem nervously. Finn dimly registered it was probably to hide her bracelet. She kept her head angled low, but peered up at him, eyes wide.

“Y’alright?” He closed his eyes in horror. Of course she wasn’t alright, but it was just one of those things you say, in normal greeting. At the pub or the chippy, running into your mates at the park. Not here in the hospital. “Sorry, I just … thought I’d stop by. I mean, I mentioned that I’d seen you and—“

“What?” She nearly spat the word.

“I mean, just … Dave and Rob. We were wondering where you’d got to and I said I’d seen you. That’s all. I mean, I don’t know … anything.” Finn unfurled the strap and swung his bag over his head, then stuffed his thumbnail in his mouth, not being able to resist any longer.

She didn’t seem happy, but he thought she might have relaxed just a bit.

“How was the mag?” he asked, desperate for her to say something. She was quiet in the shop, but her silence had never been this charged before.

Her eyes flew to his, then she seemed to remember. “Oh! Good, thanks, there were some great pictures in there. We’re allowed a bit of blu-tack, so I have something on my wall now.”

Finn nodded. That sounded bleak, but he tried not to show it. And it seemed like a good moment to mention the stash he had with him.

“Uh, we had some extras again, so Dave said I should … well, he said I could … anyway.”

Finn lifted the flap on his bag and drew out the pile, nearly a dozen titles. He squared them up against his hip, and held them out to Rae, her eyes growing bright all of a sudden.

“What? I can’t … that’s too much.”

“Trust me, we end up chucking some in the bin nearly every month … it’s better if someone reads them.”

She reached out slowly and Finn pressed the stack into her hands.

Her eyes questioned. “Dave really said these were extras?”

“Yeah, really.” Finn smiled at her, not too broad, not wanting to spook her.

“So you could’ve given me free mags before now, then,” she chuckled.

Finn was so relieved when she took them, he nearly laughed out loud.

Rae looked down, flipping through the titles, grinning at Rolling Stone, which really was an old issue; they were always about a month behind on them.

She raised her head, and started to ask, “Do you wanna—oh, never mind.”

“No, what?”

“It’s just, visiting hours are almost up. I was gonna say did you wanna come to the lounge, but there isn’t time. Stupid idea, anyway.”

“No! No, I’d like to come and hang out in the lounge sometime. Maybe I could come back on … Thursday?”

“Um … yeah, maybe. We have group on Thursday, but you probably be coming after … after …”

He could tell she didn’t want to say ‘school.’ “I could come around 4:00, would that be okay?” Finn really wanted to come back, and he had a sudden feeling that she might need him to. That for him to show sudden interest and then take it away would be worse than never having come at all.

They both stood there, sneaking glances at each other in turns, but not really looking. Finn drummed on the strap of his bag again, his momentary relief turning back to awkwardness.

“Yeah. 4:00’s good.” Rae said softly. “You should probably go.” She wanted him to leave first, then. Didn’t want to retreat behind the swinging door, but rather wanted proof of his leaving.

“Yeah,” he sighed, straightening.

“Oh, but—“ she started.

“Yeah?”

“How’s your nan?”

He was pleased she’d remembered, but he didn’t actually know—he’d come straight here, on a mission from the shop.

“Okay, I think. I … well, I came here first. I’m headed over to her now.” He reddened.

Rae’s eyes widened. “Then you really should go; visiting hours are almost over!”

For the first time since he’d seen her here, in this place, he didn’t feel unsettled. He reached up to fix his fringe, glanced at her from underneath it, and grinned like he was trying to charm a girl down the pub. “Oh, the nurses usually give me a few extra minutes.”

Her already big eyes grew even bigger, in some sort of surprise, and then she scoffed. “I’ll bet they do. Who could resist that—“ she clutched the magazines to her while her free hand waved in his general direction “—face?”

His cocky grin slid over into sheepish, and he huffed a laugh, turning to walk down the hall to his nan’s ward. He pivoted back, “Oh, wait!”

She hadn’t gone anywhere, hadn’t moved to return to the lounge or her room or wherever she was allowed to be at seven o’clock on a Tuesday evening. She waited, as requested.

“Do you, I mean,  _can_  you play music … I mean, do you have a way to play anything? In here?”

She hugged the magazines to her chest, hair falling in front of her face. “Walkman, but I didn’t bring much with me.”

“Cassettes?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” He could usually charm his way to staying after the official hours, but he should try to get there before they were officially over. Turning his head, he said, “See you Thursday!” before jogging away.

* * * * *

His nan was sitting up, smiling, more alert than he’d seen her in a while.

“Finn!”

“Hiya, Nan—you’re looking well!”

She was. Her color was up, and she didn’t look so down as last time. There was a inkling of the old twinkle in her eyes.

“I’m not feeling half bad, either. The doctor says I can go home this week. Maybe even day after tomorrow!”

Finn grinned, then thought: Thursday. He was supposed to see Rae again on Thursday.

Nan must have seen his eyes dim a bit. “Anything wrong, love?”

Finn shook his head. “Not at all!” His grin was back full force, and she peered at it, studying.

“Hmmm, you’re happy again. Something happen? Or someone?”

Finn flushed pink, but his smile didn’t fade.

“Ah, I see I’ve hit close to the mark. Don’t worry, though, I won’t pry.” She settled back against the pillows behind her. “Did you work today?”

Finn cleared his throat. “Just a bit. Dave sent me home early; wasn’t much to do.” He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.

As he pulled his head back, she caught him, her crooked hands framing his face. “And you come straight over to visit your old nan. Not many young men would be bothered. I do love seeing you so often, lad.” She patted her right hand on his left cheek, and he flushed again, feeling a twinge of guilt for stopping to see Rae first.

He sat down on the seat next to her bed, glancing to the door, but there was no nurse tapping their watch impatiently, so he settled back.

“How’s your dad?” she asked. His dad had gotten a promotion at work, and was on a big project. Finn knew his dad felt bad that he couldn’t stop by as often as he did.

“Good, good. Says with all the overtime he’s been getting, he’s going to have to take us somewhere nice when you’re feeling up to a trip.” He winked at her; she shook her head good-naturedly.

Finn held his hands up. “His idea, not mine!”

Nan smiled. “The seaside might just be calling, if he can get away for a day or two this summer.”

She must be feeling loads better, if she were thinking about going up the shore.

The two of them reminisced about previous holidays at the sea for a few minutes, and then there was a nurse at the door, her uniform just a bit too tight, dirty blonde hair pulled back in a messy knot. She cleared her throat. “I’ve already let you stay fifteen minutes past,” she whispered loudly.

Finn nodded, pulling his bag onto his shoulder as he stood. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

He gave his nan another kiss, and she beamed. “Next time you see me, I might be going home!”

He beamed back, but there was a fragment of worry at the back of his mind.

Rae.


End file.
